Of all the “soft skills” that can help you get ahead, productivity might be the most important. It’s rare to meet a leader who isn’t more productive than the average worker.
Unlocking your inner worker bee is a personal process, however, one guided by what you know about your personal working style and flow. Take a few minutes to learn about some simple productivity-boosting hacks and how to implement them, then decide which work best for you.
Block Off “Focus Time” When You’re at Your Most Alert
Some folks are morning people. Others, night owls. A few of us like working in short, hyper-productive spurts whenever inspiration strikes.
You know when and how you work best. Structure your workday accordingly by blocking off the period(s) when you’re most likely to be at your productive peak.
“I try to keep my early mornings free of calls or meetings at least until 10 or 11 a.m.,” says Sky Dayton, a serial entrepreneur and investor (and morning person).
Dayton says this part of his routine is critical to his creativity and personal organization, too. Keep that in mind, as “productivity” isn’t necessarily the sum total of one’s immediate output.
“I start the day writing down everything on my mind, ideally before I look at my various inboxes,” Dayton continues. “This helps me organize my thoughts and goals for the day.”
If You Can Get It Done in 5 Minutes or Less, Do It Now
One under-appreciated way to keep your to-do list under control is to get the quick stuff done sooner rather than later, even if it means temporarily setting aside whatever you’re working on at the moment.
Many high performers follow an informal guideline known as the “five-minute rule.” Basically, if you can complete a given task with five minutes of uninterrupted work or less, you should prioritize it. Otherwise, you could soon find yourself with many hours of accumulated “quick” tasks.
Prioritize Tasks in Order of Difficulty
Productive people — and effective teams — resist the urge to do easy things first. Instead, they prioritize the most difficult tasks. This ensures that difficult decisions aren’t put off indefinitely, experts say. Possibly even more important, it fosters learning opportunities that make everyone involved better at their jobs.
“It’s not in the interests of the individual, the group, or the organization in the long run” to put off difficult tasks, says Maryam Kouchaki, a business management professor at Northwestern University. “That learning part is super critical.”
Tackling difficult tasks head-on is difficult at first, but it’s a necessary part of personal development.
Break Projects Into Smaller Chunks and Do Them in Parallel
Many endeavors, especially those we see as challenging, can be done in a single go, no matter how productive you or your teammates are. To increase your personal productivity, you must learn how to break projects into smaller, more manageable tasks and prioritize those tasks effectively.
Juggling said tasks requires keeping multiple irons in the fire. You’ll need to work on related tasks in parallel, relying on teammates, subordinates and others as needed. In turn, that will require an effective task management system, possibly better than the system you currently use.
Customize a To-Do List and Task Management System That Works for You
You may feel that your written to-do list and email-based calendar are all you need to avoid becoming overwhelmed by your responsibilities. And you may be right, technically speaking.
However, to reach peak productivity, you need something more robust. Ideally, something customized to the unique demands of your job and your personal working style. A software-based task management platform could help, as could a virtual (or “IRL”) assistant and a strategy for generating and/or adding new tasks to your workflow as they emerge.
“De-Distract” Your Workspace and Workflow
About 60% of workers lose at least one month of work time to distractions per year, according to a Resume Now study. Not surprisingly, the most common distractions are digital, including social media (27%), texting (16%) and mobile apps or games (11%).
You can’t completely avoid digital distractions unless you get rid of your smartphone and laptop or desktop computer. But taking such a drastic step would cause more problems than it fixes.
The next best option is to “de-distract” your workspace by eliminating visual distractions, deleting non-essential games and apps from your work devices, putting away your phone during productive periods, and avoiding “professional” distractions (like email) except during specific blocks of time throughout the day.
Stick to a Routine, But Leave Time for Variety
Setting designated email-checking periods is an everyday example of the usefulness of a work routine. You don’t have to schedule your workday down to the minute, but structuring it around purposeful blocks of time can make it much more productive.
Try the same for your personal routine as well, while leaving some time in your day for creativity-boosting variety. For example, you can vary your work environment one day a week, or set aside an afternoon each month for a head-clearing hike or bike ride separate from your regular workout routine.
Do a Personal “Week in Review” Each Friday
Finally, use the last hour of your workweek to digest how you spent it.
“Review your diary at the end of each week. Literally, print it out and review it,” says Scott Farquhar, co-CEO of workplace productivity platform Atlassian. Doing this “will transform how you spend your time,” Farquhar adds.
Unlock Your Inner Worker Bee
These productivity hacks work for successful people like Sky Dayton and Scott Farquhar. Will they work for you?
Probably. But, again, you know how you work better than anyone else. Finding the right combination of productivity boosters is how you’ll unlock your inner worker bee.